Peter White – HuffPost 10.6.14

Mike Ragogna: What advice do have for new artists, Mr. White?

Peter White: I think you have to open yourself to as many musical styles as possible. If you can play the piano, to me this is the bedrock of western music. The fact that I can play the piano even though I’m known as a guitarist, it has enabled me to write and arrange all of these songs because most of it’s done on the keyboard. When I joined Al Stewart’s band, by the way, he hired me to play the piano. He already had a guitar player. I probably would not even be here talking to you today if it wasn’t for that. Whatever other instrument you play, or if you’re a singer, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Learn to play the piano. And get out there and play as much as you can in public. Go to places where people play and meet them. There are clubs here all over in L.A. For instance, there one I know called Cafe Cordiale. I go there all the time and musicians hang out there, musicians jam there, this is where you get to meet musicians. Be true to your heart. Make music because you love it, not because you think this is what people want to hear. I’ve never been good at that. Maybe that’s a good thing. I’ve never been good at trying to figure out what people want. What did Rick Nelson say? “You can’t please everyone so you’ve got to please yourself.”

MR: Nicely played, sir! What about you? What advice would you give you if you were starting out as a kid again?

PW: This is a great question. I would say, “Don’t worry. It’ll be all right.”

MR: Beautiful.

PW: I remember being very worried when I was younger, and now I look back and I think, “What was I so worried about?” If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. There’s only so much in life that you can control. Probably less than you think. Just do your best and go with it. Try to avoid making decisions based on fear or greed and that’ll give you a good life. I’m paraphrasing here, but that’s the best piece of advice. If anyone had said that to me, that would’ve given me a lot of solace. A lot of comfort. “It’s going to be okay. What are you so afraid of? Don’t be so fearful.” And if you do have fear, because we all do, walk right through it. Don’t let it control your life. When I started out, I was full of fear. I had no experience, I was just starting out, I didn’t know anything. All I knew was how to play the guitar. And yet that was what kept me going. The fact that I could play guitar opened doors for me even though I wasn’t sure where I was heading.

MR: No fear. This said from the man who was handed a Spanish guitar and told to play it.

PW: Well, it changed my life. Al Stewart–who I met at the age of twenty and I’m so glad I did–I only met him because I was living with my mother and going down to London to do auditions on the train. I was making appointments to meet people on a public telephone because we didn’t have a telephone. Kids today say, “How do I get someone to listen?” You have everything now. You have the internet to tell you how to do everything. “How do I fix my sink?” It’s on the internet. “How do I play this song?” It’s on the internet! Everything’s on the internet!

MR: Yeah, some things shouldn’t be on the internet, huh! [laughs]

PW: [laughs] Some things shouldn’t, but if you can think of it, it’s on the internet. We didn’t have the internet, all we had was blind luck. Just keep going and, hopefully, things will click. And you meet people along the way, as I did with Al Stewart. As I said, it changed my life. I was very lucky.